Our Air Savior Book One Water
by Fire Inu Princess
Summary: this is the first of three series of my new Avatar/Naruto Crossover. I hope you enjoy this story as Naruto goes through the stages of becoming the master of all four elements, the Avatar!
1. Chapter 1

Book One Water: The Teen in the Ice

_Ever since I was a child, I've been told stories of the old days… days of peace between the Water Tribe, the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom, and the Air Sages. The peace had only been able to remain due to a person known as the Avatar who could master all four elements though, one day the Avatar had just… vanished and was never seen again…_

_Legend says that the Avatar was to be reborn as an Air Sage, yet no one has claimed to have seen him… another is that the cycle of rebirth for the Avatar Spirit had been broken with there being no birth of the Avatar in the Air Sages. But, I haven't given up yet… I have hope in my life; I believe that the Avatar will return to us… I believe that this war will end before we're wiped out… I know… I just know it that the Avatar will return and save the world…_

It was a simple and cold day in the South Pole; for those of the Water Tribe it was just a nice day since they have adapted to the cold weather. Unlike those from the Fire Nation for it is always warm there like it is in the Earth Kingdom. A young woman, a water bender, is in a row boat with her cousin trying to do some hunting though it didn't seem like it was going as he had planned. For they've been out in the water for an hour now and still no fish for them to eat.

One of the two teens that were on the row boat, was a young woman with long blue beautiful blue hair in a rope, two locks of her hair framed her face giving her a bit of a beautiful glow to her. In the back, her hair had been braided into a rope with the purest white feathers braided into the end. She wore knee high black boots with white fur going up the side. Dark blue coloured pants with a white wrap going around the right knee. A beautiful lavender coloured jacket with fur trim around the bottom of her jacket, the cuffs and going up the center till it reached her neck and moved over her left shoulder to the back reaching the center where a Yin-Yang symbol was placed. With the jacket was a black strap that reached right shoulder, and reached down to her left hip. It made a criss-cross shape on her back, just under the symbol of her clan. Along her arms was a black stripe that started at her upper arm and reached down to the furry cuff. At the beginning of the stripe was two little threaded feathers. To finish off her outfit was a simple white furred hat that also hung at the sides of her head to keep her ears warm and the light blue three fingered gloves. Her lavender coloured eyes shined with sadness from the war that went on…

For the young man next to her, he wore a different outfit, the only thing they shared like the rest of their tribe was the lavender coloured eyes.

The young man had a stern look upon his face, the face of a warrior and a leader. Something that wasn't very common for someone that wasn't the leader of the tribe but for the time being, he was the only true warrior in the tribe. His long brown hair pulled back at the nape of his neck, two locks framing his face like the woman's though not as close as hers. His outfit is similar to the woman's though his boots reach his ankles, his pants a dark blue with black wraps around his thighs. There was no fur going up his body, rather than it started just a little past his shoulder and went to the center of his back with the Yin-Yang symbol. His jacket was also a dark blue with a black sash starting from his left shoulder going down to his right hip and around to his back crossing with the fur and the symbol that resided on his back. The fur on the hem of his jacket draped down to his waist, just barely reaching his thighs. On the sash, like his upper arms were embodied with white feathers. Three on the sash, and one on each of his upper arms. To complete his outfit was a black headband and dark blue gloves.

Both teens were responsible for the village while the leader, the woman's father had gone out with the men of their tribe to aid the Earth Kingdom in the hopes of ending this war. Though, even he knew that it wouldn't be enough to stop the war… not at the rate it was going…

Holding a white spear in his hand, the young man looked into the water as he spotted some fish, looks like they'll start having some luck after all for tonight. Smirking, he said "watch how a man does it Hinata." Said the man with a smile before twirling the spear around in his fingers and getting ready to get him a fish.

The young woman just sighed and looked at the water, wondering why this war was even happening in the first place. It seemed like the one Fire Lord had gone mad with power, something that she would never easily understand… like her water bending. She was the only bender in the South Pole and for that, she had no real training yet, it didn't stop her from trying to master this sacred art. Taking a deep breath, the young woman focused the energy within her body, trying to harness the power of her bending ancestors to help her control the water below her.

Staring at the water like a longtime friend, Hinata moved her hands in gentle motions, like creating a wave with her hands, moving them slowly up and down, creating a circle in the air. Smiling, the water started to form an orb as it started to float into the air. Hinata couldn't help but grin as she said "Neji, I did it! I caught a fish!"

"Sure you did Hinata… now quite please. I'm trying to catch lunch." Calmly said Neji as he got ready to catch the fish that was in his sights. Hinata had to admit, he was a bit of a weird guy… they were cousins yet he wasn't a bender like she was. Though, he was also a bit of a sexist but also respected women if that made sense. Her father had asked Neji to keep her safe, but also to keep the village safe. It was strange that he wouldn't let her fight but maybe it was because she didn't know how to control her bending yet and he didn't want her to get hurt… that could be possible.

"Please Neji, just look what I caught?"

"Fine…" Neji said before turning around and staring at Hinata with slightly wide eyes that she had been able to catch a fish before he could. Shaking his head, he calmly said "you were able to catch that because you're a bender… I have to rely on skill to catch a fish." Hinata just sighed before grabbing the fish and setting it in a basket. Sometimes, she hated it that Neji didn't respect the sacred art of Water Bending, least when it came to a woman using it.

Bending has many possibilities! Water can even be used for healing and yet… he just sees it as 'magic' water rather than bending. Grabbing a lock of her hair, she started to run her hands down it as she tries to think on what she could do while Neji did some hunting… yet, he still couldn't catch anything. Taking a deep breath, the young woman repeated the process a few times, catching some fish for them to eat tonight. Though, she couldn't help but wonder how she'd be able to learn bending when she is the only water bender in the South Pole.

"Hinata… did you catch fish?" asked Neji as he turned around with a raised eyebrow at her. Hinata just nodded and sat down, not sure if he was happy, or angry. "Hinata, how many times have I told you not to use your bending! You don't know how to use it and you couldn't yourself or those around you!" shouted Neji.

"But…"

"No buts! If you think you're so powerful and able to use you're bending without hurting anything then prove it! Use it on that big block of ice! We all know that only masterful benders can move ice that size without hurting anyone." Said Neji with narrowed lavender coloured eyes.

Gulping, Hinata stood up and tried to focus on the ice, after all ice was just another form of water right? Yeah… yeah it was just another form of water bending. Taking a deep breath, Hinata focused the bending energies within her body once more. Holding out her hands, Hinata tried to focus on moving the ice… though it didn't seem possible with it being fifteen feet tall… and who knows how wide it was. It didn't look like that she would be able to move it knowing with how much trouble she has it with her water bending. Breathing in and out, Hinata kept on trying to move the ice, moving her hands from left and right, only the waves seemed to be moving. Frowning, she tried something else…

Thinking on the loss of her mother, thinking about how long this war had upset so many people… of how angry it had made so many people. Her eyebrows narrowed on her forehead as she focused on the emotion that she held onto when her mother died… when so many people had died because of this war. Anger… sadness… those were the feelings that she felt when she lost her mother and the thought of not being able to keep her safe.

Suddenly, there was a crack… Opening her eyes, Hinata looked up and almost screamed when she saw the ice starting to break. "Hinata what did you do?!" shouted Neji as he tried to row them out of there in time. Though, Hinata tried to do with what bending she did learn on her own, moving her arms back and forth trying to get the boat moving. "Keep moving! Gotta keep moving!" shouted Neji as he tried to row them out of harm's way. Though, when Hinata turned her head, the ice didn't just shatter, but it was being shoved out of the way by something under it… but what could possibly be under the ice that would cause it to shift aside?

Either way, they had to hurry and get out of the way before they were thrown into the ocean. Hinata kept on moving her arms, hoping to use that to her advantage to keep moving, to keep going! When she turned her head to look over her shoulder, what she saw surprised her…

"What the heck is that?" said Neji in shock.

"I… I don't know…" whispered Hinata as she stared at what was starting to come out of the now glowing ocean. It seemed like the water was coming alive, for the orb of light in the water seemed to be growing bigger, and brighter. Hinata didn't know what was going on, but she couldn't help but just stare for it seemed to have her in some kind of trance. Rising from the water, breaking the ice berg even more, was an orb of ice just starting to rise and float on the surface. "It's an orb of ice!" shouted Hinata as she just stared at it.

"Let's get moving!" shouted Neji as he tried to row them out of there. Hinata though, just kept on staring at the orb only to blink when she saw the outline of something in the ice. One outline was big as two buildings, maybe bigger. The other, was the outline of a person… Shaking her head, Hinata grabbed Neji's sword from his pack and started to run on ahead. "Hinata what are you doing?!" shouted Neji as he tried to run and catch up to his cousin.

"Someone is in there!" shouted Hinata before making a break for the orb of ice, thankful that it was on a flat surface for her to stand on at the least. Once she reached the orb, along with Neji both of them just stared at the ice in surprise. Whoever was in there, seemed to have been in some kind of meditation state… Frowning, Hinata reached her hand toward the ice only for Neji to grab her wrist. "What are you doing Neji?"

"Don't touch it… it could be a trap from the Fire Nation…" whispered Neji.

Frowning, Hinata just stared at Neji and sighed softly before turning to look back to the orb. Whoever was in there, there was a faint glowing on… the glowing was from some weird shape that looked like an arrow… some on what she guessed was the forehead, and the hands… What else glowed seemed to be six lines on the face. At first, she thought that maybe the person in there was dead… that it had been too late to save him. But, what she hadn't expected was for the eyes to snap open within the ice. "He's alive!" shouted Hinata as she ran up to the ice and swung the sword at the ice a few times. Hoping to break him out of there.

The young woman kept on swinging the sword at the ice, hoping that the sword would break through the ice; she had to hurry up and get him out of there before it was too late to save whoever was in the ice. The sword kept on making a 'clink' sound as it made contact with the sword, something that Hinata had come accustomed to from years of having to cut ice to put in a pot to help keep it cold and of course to purify the water for them to drink or use for birth.

Giving the ice one last hit, Hinata gasped when she felt a gust of wind bursting from the crack… the crack growing bigger and bigger going upward, the cracks growing wider and going further. Hinata didn't know if she did the right thing anymore… this was all freaking her out a bit. Gulping, the young woman backed away as did her cousin as they tried to get away from the ice. Suddenly, the top of the ice shattered as a bright blue light burst from it and flowing into the sky, causing it to light up… _'Am I doing the right thing?'_ thought Hinata in confusion before covering her eyes from the bright light.

The light was blinding, that was for sure, though she wasn't sure why that was happening. What could possibly be in the ice?

When she opened her eyes, Hinata looked up and stared in shock. For standing on the edges of the now broken orb of ice stood a… a young man. He seemed like he was around their age... he had bright blonde spiky hair and tired looking ocean blue eyes. His skin was a tanned colour though she was amazed that it was a little tan to be honest. His clothes, they were something that she's never seen before in her life. They looked like… robes. The robes were black with hems. Such as going around his neck and flowing down to the left and right of his chest. Though, it also seemed like he had some kind of belt around his waist that went around and then went downward in the front. What she also noticed, was the sleeves… The right sleeve, reached his upper arm and the end of it, was also orange. While the other was long just reaching his wrist while the other half of the sleeve seemed to reach his fingers. Next on his outfit were two flaps, one in the front and one in the back… She assumed that they were the same on both sides, white cloth with orange arrows pointing downward.

Next on his outfit were a pair of orange pants, from what she could gather was for durability. Hinata had to admit; orange was a good colour for him. Next and finally, were his shoes. It seemed to have some kind of black material almost like her boots though two straps of red and black were wrapped around just under his knees. Around his just up his leg a little, with two straps going down his ankles that have been attached to what appeared to look like sandals.

"Who is that?" whispered Hinata with confusion in her expression.

"I don't know Hinata…" whispered Neji.

Suddenly, the young man's eyes rolled in the back of his head, knees buckling from his own weight as he started to fall over. Hinata, acting quickly rushed forward and grabbed a hold of him… only to end up falling over herself. "Hinata are you stupid?! He could be with the Fire Nation!" shouted Neji.

"He needs help, we have to take him back to the village!" shouted Hinata, carefully pushing herself up… the thing she noticed on his back was a strange red swirl in the center… that was amazing. Flipping him over, she brushed his bangs back and was surprised when she saw an orange arrow on his forehead. Just like the arrows on his clothes and his legs. Shaking her head, Hinata pushed herself to her feet and helped the blonde teen and tried to get him to the row boat. Only to hear a sudden sound. Neji grabbed his sword and went to what was left of the ice orb and what he had seen made him want to fall over. "What do you see Neji?" asked Hinata from the boat.

"You won't believe this…"

* * *

_It was a late and stormy night, the storm was strong enough to blow anyone away to never be seen again. A young man sitting on the saddle of his red nine tailed flying fox. The fox had been his friend and companion for a long time now; ever since he was five… he had been the only one to have been paired up with a flying fox in a long time. Taking a deep breath, the young man leaned back in his seat as he tried to fly the red beast through the air._

_"Don't worry Kurama; nothing is stronger than you are. I just hope we can get to the Earth Kingdom alright… maybe if I'm lucky I'll have a place to stay for a little while… I just… just don't want to be separated from the pervy sage. I can't think on what would happen if…" Kurama let out a small concerned growl as if saying don't worry, nothing would happen._

_The young blonde teen smiled and gently rubbed the fox's long rabbit-like ear as Kurama walked through the air. If he had stayed at the temple, there was a good chance that he would have been taken away from his home and transferred to the next temple rather than staying with his teacher…_

_Running a wet hand through his soaked hair, the young man held onto the reins as Kurama flew through the air, trying to stop the powerful gusts of wind from knocking them over. "Hold on Kurama, I sense a big wind coming our way." Said the blonde teen, trying to brace themselves for the wind. Though, it seemed even they couldn't have prepared themselves for this strong wind. Screaming out in shock and surprise, he tried to bend the air around them hoping that would protect themselves. But it seemed that no matter what he did, he just couldn't get it to stop._

_Kurama tried to fly the other direction, but no matter what he just couldn't get himself to fly straight. "Hold on Kurama! I'm sure that we can make it through this wind!" shouted the young man tried to steer himself out of the winds, trying to get Kurama to lower himself to settle using the wind to help him walk on the water. Maybe that would be safer… Though, it seemed that no matter what he tried to do, he couldn't get a firm grasp of what was happening. Or why the weather had changed so suddenly. It didn't make sense to him in the least._

_Suddenly, he was thrown off of Kurama's saddle and falling toward the water below. Screaming, the young man tried to use the winds to keep him up, tried to keep him out of the water. But, before he could get a good grasp of the wind, Kurama's body had slammed into his body. Causing both of them to fall into the water… his vision soon went dark… the only thing he could remember was feeling cold… so, so cold._

Suddenly, the young man's eyes snapped open as he sat up quickly and looked around in shock and fear. Frowning, the young man looked around trying to figure out what was going on, where he was… and how he got here… none of this was making sense to him in the least. Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand through his blonde hair and tried to think of something… Looking down on himself, he saw that he was only wearing his pants… what happened?

"Oh, you're awake." Said a new voice.

Frowning, the young man looked up and stared at the woman before him with wide eyes. She had beautiful blue hair and lavender coloured eyes… wait, he remembered her, she was the woman he saw before passing out again… "Hi…" was all he could say, there was nothing more that he could think of to say, he never was very good at talking to women.

"I'm Hinata; may I have your name?"

"Naruto… I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

The woman smiled before handing him a mug with what he assumed to be a hot beverage something that was sometimes accustomed here in the Water Tribe, which is where he's guessing where he is with how cold it is. Well, it's colder here than it is in the Air Temples. Taking a deep breath, Naruto reached for the mug saying a quite 'thank you' before drinking the hot drink. It sent warmth through his entire body.

Suddenly, there was loud screams coming from outside. Causing Naruto to jump out of bed, dropping the mug by mistake and rushing outside, without putting on his shirt or shoes. Looking up, he saw some of the children, all of which were wearing clothes similar to Hinata's poking and pulling at Kurama's silky red fur. "Stop that, he doesn't like it!" shouted Naruto as he rushed toward everyone and stood before Kurama. Though, what he had also noticed was that everyone was staring at him with slight fear in his eyes. Must be because he's a stranger to them…

"You shouldn't be out here without your clothes." Shouted Hinata as she comes out of the tent with his robes and shoes. Shaking his head, Naruto looked up at Kurama who still seemed to be growling at the villagers, not that he could blame them. The children had been poking him with a stick…

**"Kurama, relax. Can't you give these kids a break, they were just playing around is all and I bet they were just curious about you."** Naruto calmly said to Kurama, rubbing the giant fox's muzzle in the hopes of calming him down, ignoring the weird stares from the villagers as he just stared at the nine tailed angry fox.

**"Shut up Naruto! Damn it I hate kids!"**

**"If you hated kids so much, you wouldn't have chosen me to be your companion… Just relax okay? Take it easy and I'm sure that they won't do it again."** Naruto calmly said, half expecting Kurama to snort and growl before walking away. Though, the fox just lied back down on the ice with a 'thump' before laying his head on his paws. Turning around, Naruto just felt a little nervous now that everyone was staring at him.

"Mommy, he has weird tattoos…" said a little girl.

"Don't point."

Frowning, Naruto looked at his tattoos, wondering if there was something off about them… did they mess up when they gave him these couple months ago. There was no way that could be possible! Shaking his head, the young man looked up as he asked "is something wrong with my tattoos?" Seeing no one's even nodding or shaking their head just… staring at him with shock, fear and surprise. Sighing, Naruto grabbed his robes and shoes before putting them on, happy that he had pants on already for that matter. Looking over at them once more he calmly finished dressing himself as he ran a hand through his hair.

"You okay Naruto? You have been in the ice…"

"I'm fine; I should go on home though… I bet the other sages are worried about me."

"Sages?"

Naruto stared at them as if they were crazy. Why wouldn't they have known what sages were, it doesn't make a lick of sense to him! Shaking his head, Naruto took a deep breath as if to calm himself, the only thing he hated about this was that unlike other sages he did have an attitude problem. Something he had heard was from his mother. Looking at them, he calmly said "yeah, ya know… the Air Sages? The Air Benders, people who can bend and control the wind."

"No one has seen or heard of an Air Bender for a hundred years. People had thought they've been wiped out."

"Wiped out?" Naruto said with shock written all over his face. That couldn't be possible; he was just with the Air Sages a few days ago wasn't he? That… that couldn't be possible… No! They had to be hiding, they had to have been hiding, and after all they're cunning. Shaking his head, Naruto calmly said "I don't believe you. I was just at the temple not long ago! I know that! After all, what could wipe out Air Benders? No one can get to the temples."

"The Fire Nation did young Air Bender." Calmly said one of the Water Tribesmen. Naruto just couldn't believe that… there was no way that could be true… Taking a deep breath, he started to walk away. Telling Kurama to stay, that he was coming back.

"Wait, you don't know your way!" shouted Hinata as she followed after Naruto. Neji of course protesting the whole time though he tries to follow them but thinks about the beast that was in the ice with this Air Bender… He couldn't risk the lives of the villagers with that monster here… Though, that seemed harder than it sounded since no one has seen something like this before… maybe it's part of the Fire Nation.

* * *

Naruto took a deep breath as he sat on a hill of snow, trying to get his mind to think things through. People haven't seen an Air Bender for a hundred years… no one has even seen the tattoos before. That doesn't make sense; he had only been gone for a few days right? Taking a deep breath, Naruto held his hands together, his index fingers pointing upward while his other fingers are curled up with his hand. He had to think, clear his thoughts but… fear had crept its way up into his heart.

"You okay?"

"Why did you follow me?"

"You don't know your way back…"

Sighing, Naruto's arms slumped on his knees as he turned and stared at the woman that he saw in the tent. Why did she care about what happened to him? Running a hand through his hair, the young man said "look, I'm not staying… I'm going to return to the Air Temple…"

Looking up at her, he saw that her eyes were filled with worry and concern for his well-being. Why would she care? Was she just that nice or… was she just pitting him for some reason? Looking away from her, the young man tried to think on what he could say or do… though it seemed that no matter what it wouldn't have mattered to him in the least. After all, he had his own problems right? Though, Naruto didn't know if what the people in the village said was true… "What's going on…? How can no one have seen an Air Bender for so long…?"

"The Fire Nation wiped them out."

"Huh? Why?"

"So the Avatar couldn't be reborn. The Fire Lord killed the Air Benders and that was the start of the war with the Fire Nation."

No, that can't be right! There was no war, he was sure of it! There couldn't be any way; there hadn't been one when he had left. None of this was making sense. Grabbing his temples, Naruto's head bent downward as he tried to process all of this information. It doesn't make a lick of sense to him! There couldn't be a stinkin' war! Suddenly, Naruto felt something wrapping around his shoulders and pulled him close. Blinking slowly, the young man looked up and saw Hinata holding him, as if to comfort him… Just staring at him in shock, he didn't know what was going on… was she just that concerned for him or… was there something more. Blushing softly, Naruto just let her hold him for a moment and took a deep breath as he just took in the warmth of her comfort.

"I think you've been frozen for a hundred years. Why else… wouldn't you know about the Air Benders… the war… everything." Naruto listened to her words, how could that be possible? He couldn't have been frozen for so long, it just didn't make sense to him but… it is starting to make sense to him now. The people never seeing an Air Bender, people talking and going on and on about the war… Damn it, why was this happening… why?

Pulling himself out of Hinata's arms, he whispered "I don't know what to do… if I'm the last one, what… Damn it I don't know…" Rubbing his forehead, Naruto tried to think of something, he had to think of what he could do now…

"I have to ask, do you know the Avatar?"

"I know him…" Naruto whispered, it wasn't a lie, he does know the Avatar… Sighing softly, he looked up at the sky only to blink when he saw black snow falling. Hinata gasped in shock causing him to turn around and watch her run off to the village. This couldn't be good. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto jumped up to his feet and headed back to the village, though stayed hidden. He didn't want anyone to get hurt… that, and he wasn't sure what he was facing yet.

Just as he arrived to the village he stared at the giant boat as it broke through the ice, Naruto just stared at it as he tried to figure this all out. He's never seen a boat like this before, must have been made recently from the designs on it. Though, he remembered that style for sure… that was a Fire Nation ship thanks to the symbol on the side of it. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto took a deep breath as he walked a little further into the village, hoping to get a better look at who would be coming out of the ship…

The closer he got, the more he saw of the villagers, they all stood their ground… well, mostly Neji since it appeared that he was the only warrior here in the village. It was strange to see that, made him wonder where the other warriors were. Maybe they had all gone off somewhere, he couldn't say for sure.

Walking out of the ship were an army of men wearing the same kind of armor, though he didn't pay them any attention. His attention was at the teen in the middle… he was weird, and gave off a strange aura…

The teen in the front had short black hair with two locks hanging at the sides; in the back it seemed spiky… almost like a duck's behind. Naruto had to snicker at that. Around his torso was red armor, just a little of the armor reached his left shoulder and down a little while his other arm was void of the red armor. Looking up at his neck, Naruto noticed that it was a high collar armor with gold around the top, which was a little different than what he used to see. Squinting his eyes, Naruto saw that under the armor was some kind of grey shirt with only one sleeve on his left arm while, again it left his right arm bare.

What he also noticed was the black hand guard with the gold designs on his hands…

The only time he's seen hand guards like that was with the royal family… Frowning, Naruto scooted a little closer to try to get a better look at this guy… there was no way that he could be of the royal family… Around his waist was some kind of material that looked like a skirt with a black belt that had a gold buckle around his waist. To go with that, was a pair of dark blue pants, and down were his shoes. The design was similar to his though different at the same time. The material went up just ending under his knee, the material for his shoes were also dark blue. It ended just above his foot with two straps going down over his ankles reaching the sole of his shoes, and over the top of his foot, under his toes was a gold band.

Whoever this guy was, he meant business. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto used the wind to make himself to get to Kurama quicker… he had to hurry up and protect these people. It seemed like Neji couldn't even do that but, that was to be expected with him only being one man. Once he reached Kurama, he looked up at him as he said "**Kurama, I'm going to-"**

**"Going to do something stupid…"**

**"I am offended! What makes you think that I'll do something so- okay yeah I'll do something stupid. Just look after the village alright?** Seeing Kurama nod, Naruto grabbed his staff and took a few more steps out toward the crowd, though staying hidden for the right moment. He could hear the teen talking to everyone in the village.

"Listen up; I'm looking for someone who would look to be a hundred years old. I'm looking for someone that you should all know someone who can master all the elements." Said the teen, his eyes narrowed into a glare. Naruto saw Neji coming up to him and threw what appeared to be a boomerang. Naruto almost slapped his forehead, thinking that was stupid. Who the hell uses a boomerang?! Come on that's the most stupid weapon ever and he should know, he knows how to fight!

"Take that!" shouted Neji with a glare before he charged holding a sword in his hand. Getting ready to kick some ass and take some names! Though, just as he was close enough, the black haired teen with his quick reflexes grabbed the sword and kicked Neji in the stomach before throwing the sword into the snow. Neji gaged in pain, the kick must have been a hard one to have caused that kind of damage.

"I'm not fooling around. Tell me where the Avatar is and I'll let you all go." Said the black haired teen with a glare.

Naruto sighed before he started to walk out of the crowd. Originally, he was going to fight this guy, kick him out of the village but… he couldn't do this to them. He couldn't risk their lives because of his plan. Looking up at the teen, he said "leave them alone. You're here for me." Naruto walked out of the crowd and narrowed his eyes at them, his eyes hard as steel as he prepared himself for a fight, though hoping that it wasn't one that would put these people in danger. The black haired teen just stared at Naruto with a raised eyebrow as if not believing him.

"Prove it that you are an Air Bender." Demanded the black haired teen.

Naruto narrowed his eyes for a moment before hold out his hand and grinned before a gust of wind blew from the blonde's palm and headed toward the black haired teen, blowing him back toward the ship. The sounds of people giggling could easily be heard. Naruto just grinned before twirling his staff in his hand and swung it much like a sword as another gust of air shot out and headed toward the other soldiers. "Get him!" shouted the black haired teen, causing all of the men in armor to rush to Naruto and grabbed him, narrowing his eyes; the young man couldn't bend with his hands or feet, not with them being bound…

The teen dusted himself of snow and walked over to Naruto with a dark glare of his own. "An Air Bender… you're the avatar!" shouted the teen, causing everyone to gasp out in shock. Naruto just narrowed his eyes back and slammed his head into his. The teen howled in pain before shouting out "take him to the ship! I'm bringing him to my father. Let's go."

"Naruto!" shouted Hinata as she rushed forward.

Naruto turned as he said "Hinata… take care of Kurama… if he ever wants to go somewhere, just say these words to him!" He then started to growl something out to Hinata, as if hoping that she would understand him, hoping that she did… please, please just let her understand what he was trying to do… it was the only way to keep Kurama safe and happy, but if he's lucky, he'll be able to get out of here in no time…

Hinata's sad face was the last thing he saw as he entered the ship, the door closing before he saw nothing but the darkness of the ship.


	2. Chapter 2

Book One Water: The Avatar Returns

Hinata couldn't believe that Naruto was the Avatar… it just doesn't seem possible but, at the same time it was. He was an Air Bender, and that was at least one hint to the Avatar that should have saved the world a long time ago. Though, the look on his face when she had asked about him knowing the Avatar, the way he said it almost sounded sad. Frowning, she rushed over to Kurama and saw that he looked sad and angry, but that was she couldn't really be sure. "Don't worry Kurama; I'm sure that we'll save Naruto." Kurama just let out a soft growl, his eyes narrowed into slits for a moment. What could Kurama be thinking?

Tilting her head, the young woman gently reached out and brushed her gloved hand on the giant fox's ear for a moment. Kurama seemed to relax and lean into her touch. Hinata had always been great with animals, even the ones that should be dangerous to people. Sighing softly, she turned away from the animal as she tried to think of a way to save Naruto. But, it seemed that no matter what, she just couldn't think on how to save Naruto at all. It all just seemed so futile.

Though, she didn't stay in her saddened thoughts for very long, for Hinata felt something nudging her back. Frowning, she turned around and saw that Kurama was nudging her with his nose. Giving a soft smile, she rubbed his muzzle as she said "don't worry… I'm okay." Though, Kurama just kept on nudging her with his nose, as if he was trying to tell her something but, she just didn't understand him, least not like how Naruto did. Shaking her head, she said "I'm sorry Kurama; I just don't understand you…"

Giving his muzzle one last pat, she started to walk away from the big animal, maybe if she rowed out to get to Naruto that she could save him. But, would that be fast enough? Least, it wouldn't without her water bending but sadly, she didn't know how to bend very well.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman looked over at the horizon; she could still faintly see the ship that took Naruto away within her sights. She had to do something, she had to save him, and it was the only way to help the world. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata rushed off into her tent and grabbed some supplies and put them in her bag as she tried to prepare herself. If there was one thing that she wasn't going to do, it was that she wasn't going to just sit around and do nothing.

"What do you think you're doing Hinata."

Gasping out in shock, Hinata turned around and saw Neji, his hair no longer in a ponytail but with the elastic tied down near the ends of his hair. How is it that he's amazing at sneaking up on people yet he's still learning how to fight? Turning away from Neji, she calmly said "I… I can't just let Naruto sacrifice himself like this. We had a reason for finding him Neji. We have to save him; he's the only one that can save us now."

"Hinata…"

"No! I don't care if you don't like him Neji; I'm going to find him! I'm going to get him and then he can learn the elements and help save everyone!"

"Hinata!"

Hinata blinked and stared at Neji, his face serious, showing that he had something that was important for him to speak. Since that was the only time he would ever yell at anyone. Neji took a deep breath before grabbing his hair tie, removing it from his brown locks as he said "look Hinata, I can't let you go alone. If you believe that Naruto can save the world, that he truly is the Avatar, than I'm coming with you." He grinned as he tied his hair back into a high ponytail, a sign that he was ready for battle. Hinata just smiled as she rushed to Neji and hugged him.

Giggling, she said "thank you Neji!"

"A row boat isn't going to be fast enough to catch up to the Fire Nation ship though."

"What about Kurama?"

"The fox only listens to Naruto; why else do you think it hasn't moved yet? It has to be a stupid animal nothing more."

Hinata narrowed her eyes as she said "he isn't a stupid animal. And I'll prove it!" With that said Hinata grabbed her bag and started to walk on out of the tent and on toward Kurama. Maybe what Naruto had growled out was in the language that Kurama understands. Maybe that was what he was trying to do before he was taken away. That Kurama would only respond to this… fox language or something. But whatever it was, Hinata was going to try it out, there had to be something that she could do that would get Kurama to start moving. She had to save Naruto or at least give him some kind of help.

Standing in front of Kurama, Hinata stared at the big fox, its crimson eyes looking at her as if curious as to what she was going to do. Kurama tilted his head, waiting… waiting for what she was going to do. Did he know what she was going to do before even she did? Shaking her head, Hinata looked over at Neji as he started to walk up to them. "Look Neji, Kurama is a smart animal and I'm sure that he can help us save Naruto." Kurama's ears twitched and shot up. Smiling, Hinata looked up as she said "see, he knows what I'm saying though… unless it was just Naruto's name that he understood."

"Still thinking it's a stupid animal."

"Come on… it's better than waiting for the Fire Nation to hunt us down."

Sighing, Neji walked over to Kurama, following Hinata as she headed to the fox's side. Least the huge saddle was still on his back. Though, it made her wonder how they were going to get on. Kurama of course, moved one of his nine tails to them, and setting it down in front of them like he was going to lift them up. This made Hinata smile all the more. "I don't trust this fox…" said Neji with a glare.

"Neji, he's a sweet and adorable fox. This is the only way to save Naruto. Now, come on." Said Hinata with a smile before stepping on Kurama's tail, as did Neji. The fox slowly started to lift the two teens up with his tail and slowly moved them toward the saddle that resided on his back. Hinata couldn't help but look outward at the village, for everything looked small while slowly being raised to Kurama's back. She had to admit, it was a nice view that was for sure. Smiling, Hinata turned to Neji who just so happened to look a little nervous, must be his issues with heights.

Looking at Kurama, she saw that his expression was serious as if he was ready to take on the world. Though, she wondered how they were going to get the fox moving after they get onto his back, just resting on his saddle. Hinata frowned as she grabbed the reins, not sure how this was to work since she's never rode an animal before.

"So, what now Hinata?" asked Neji as he sat at the back of the saddle, using it as his own personal resting spot to lean against.

"I'm not sure, unless it has something to do with what Naruto did before…"

Neji just sighed and leaned back a little more, getting a little more comfortable. Not really sure what they were to do and just yawned. Hinata sighed and moved her arms, causing the reins to act like a small whip, not enough to hurt Kurama but enough to get him moving. Kurama though just yawned softly and lied his head on his paws. Hinata frowned and sighed. Maybe what Naruto had growled out was the key to getting the fox moving. Taking a deep breath, the young woman growled out to Kurama, whatever it was. Though, what she hadn't expected was for Kurama to let out a loud roar, a roar that sounded pissed. What was going on?

Before she knew it, Kurama ran off at a high speed. She never knew that it was possible for an animal to run this fast, all she knew was that the two teens had to hold on tightly so they wouldn't fall off or go flying. "What the hell did you do Hinata?!" shouted Neji as he rightly held onto the saddle. Whatever was happening, Kurama charged forward, jumping over the wall that surrounded the village and running across the water. Wait, running across water? He wasn't sinking in to the water at all?! Was he floating?!

Hinata stared in shock but smiled. This was amazing, there had never been an animal that could have done this before, and it was pretty much known to be impossible. Though, what Kurama did next had shocked her to great lengths, for the red fox jumped into the air, Hinata could feel the air moving past her skin, giving her a small chill. But that wasn't the only thing, Kurama's tails were moving in a strange way, almost like when Naruto was doing some of his air bending. That's it! Kurama is air bending to help him fly! This was the most amazing thing to have ever happened in her life! "He's really flying!" squealed Hinata in delight, though right now she had to hurry up and get to Naruto, there was no time to enjoy the ride sadly.

* * *

Naruto couldn't believe that this was happening. Though, he knows that if Hinata did tell Kurama what he had growled out to her, they would be here soon. Wasn't the best plan since Kurama would be pissed at him but hey, better than being trapped. But it wouldn't hurt if he knew what was going on… if what Hinata had said was true, that he had been in the ice for as long as this war had been going on he may be in for some trouble. But at the moment, he didn't care. He had to hurry up and get his staff back and get himself out of here. There was no way that he was going to allow himself to stay captured; his teacher would be ashamed if he let that happen.

Looking around, he saw the armored men that took Naruto into the ship with the duck haired teen. This was strange, though for some reason the teen looked familiar but he just couldn't think on why that would be. Almost like a part of him had met someone that looked like him from somewhere. Unless it was the last Avatar that had met someone like him, there was no telling what it would be but at the moment he had to focus on getting the hell out of here. Though, he would have to be careful with what he does do, there was no telling what would or could happen if he acted too soon.

Suddenly, Naruto felt someone grab him from his robe and pulled him back. Holding his robe rightly in their hand, Naruto looked up at the armored covered face of one of the guards as he… she… stared at him. "Hm… never seen an Air Bender before, these tattoos normal for the Air Sages?" asked the guard, who Naruto had identified as a man thanks to the sound of his voice. Naruto just nodded, he didn't want to talk to any of these people. He had to hurry up and get the hell out of here…

"So this is the Avatar Sasuke?" asked a new voice.

Frowning, Naruto looked up and saw someone that was possibly a few years older than the duck haired teen, though he could clearly see the resemblance.

The man had black hair like this Sasuke guy, though mostly he had two locks of his hair framing the sides of his face. And the rest tied back in a ponytail. Around his forehead were white bandages, was that supposed to be a headband or was he hurt? Looking down, he noticed a strange necklace around his neck; it only had three black magatamas. Something that Naruto had never expected an army man to be wearing. Frowning, Naruto also noticed that he had a high collar shirt but unlike Sasuke, his was open from his chest and up. Under his shirt was a dark net styled shirt. On his left shoulder seemed to be some kind of red shoulder plate, which was new. But, like Sasuke, he had a sleeve on his left arm, though it was a darker colour. Starting from his right hip was light grey belt that moved upward toward his left rib… he wondered why though or if it was just for show. On his hands, he saw the same style of hand guards as Sasuke's…

Looking down at his waist, Naruto saw a light grey belt with a gold buckle. It seemed that it was holding up some kind of… skirt? He didn't know, either way the skirt-thing was dark grey with a red outline that started out in the center… wait that was more of a wrap than a skirt… Naruto shook his head, before he looked down, and noticed the last bit of this man's outfit was the same style of shoes that the duck haired teen had. Did they all have the same style of clothes? Sure he knew people in the Fire Nation but damn, least they wore different styles. _'Are these guys brother's or something?'_ thought Naruto with a frown.

"Itachi, I found him, I found the Avatar!" shouted Sasuke with a smirk on his face like had won the war.

Naruto just rolled his eyes, like he was dealing with the biggest idiot of all time. Maybe this guy was a little crazy up in the head after all. Itachi looked over at Naruto for a moment, staring at him with his strangely calm eyes before he lifted Naruto's chin with his index finger. "Hm… he does have the markings. But, what if he isn't the Avatar?"

"He was Air Bending!"

"But can he speak the language of the fox?"

"Um…"

**"Do you understand what I am saying?"** said Itachi.

Naruto looked away, trying to pretend that he didn't understand the language. But damn it, it was hard to pretend that you didn't know something. Though, what Itachi had said next only confirmed it. **"Maybe you're just as stupid as you look."**

"Shut up I am not stupid!" When Naruto saw Itachi's smile, Naruto wanted to slap his forehead. _'Damn it!'_ thought Naruto with a mental slap to his forehead. How could he be that stupid! He was going to pretend that this guy was just crazy and captured an Air Bender poser and get out of here but sadly that wasn't meant to be.

Now he was stuck in here because of his own stupidity. Oh the joy of it all. Taking a deep breath, Naruto looked up and saw that Sasuke had ordered the men to bring Naruto to the cargo hold and lock him up. Though, what Naruto saw in Sasuke's hand was what made him narrow his eyes. _'My staff… have to get it back…' _he thought to himself as he heard Sasuke tell one of the guards to bring the staff to his room. This was sure going to be a long and interesting day when he can get his staff back. But, this was only going to be more difficult for him.

Suddenly, Naruto felt someone pushing his back, telling him to get a move on. Okay, this wasn't going as how he had planned and for that he was pissed. But, with these guys being Fire Benders it might take a while to beat them… but, with them not having any kind of experience with Air Benders, he has the upper hand in this battle of a life time.

As he walked, Naruto looked from both sides of his eyes and frowned in confusion. Trying to act all innocent and defenseless. This was going to be an interesting day that was for sure. Smirking, he watched as one of the guards walked ahead of Naruto to unlock the door while the other stood behind him as if to make sure that he wouldn't run away. Taking a deep breath, the young man looked ahead and smirked. Inhaling lungs full of air just as the guard put in the key into the lock. Exhaling the air, Naruto slammed the one guard into the door, and slammed his own body into the one behind him. Both went flying until they hit the wall behind them.

Naruto took that chance to side flip and started to run away. He had to think of a way to unbind his wrists, he had to air bend his way out of here or risk being stuck in here and going to the Fire Nation and possibly getting killed if the war was as bad as he thought.

As he ran down the hall, Naruto tried to think on where his staff could possibly be, but right now his wrists were important. Looking over to the side, he saw the wall had the symbol of the royal family, a red and white fan. Yeah, these guys were Uchiha alright… he had heard about them from his teacher and god father but, he couldn't say for sure that they were still in control over the Fire Nation… Shaking his head, under the fan he saw two crossed swords and smirked. That was what he needed. Looking around, he made sure that no one was around, though he doubted that since he had only just recently escaped.

Once he started to rub the blade's edge against the rope, Naruto could easily see the robe starting to cut thread by thread. That was a plus at least, but he still didn't know where his staff was and had a feeling that it was deeper into the ship. Frowning, he had to think of a way to get that, and fly out of here before he was too far away for Kurama to sniff him out.

Thinking on what he had to get Hinata to tell Kurama sure would have been funny to see.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto ran down the halls, using the air around him to seem like he was zipping through the room. He had to get his staff and get the hell out of here. He had to hurry up before it was too late for him to even escape and he was too far from the Water Tribe's village.

Though, once he hit the one door, a door that was bigger than the rest, Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing. Frowning, he was amazed that this guy put 'Sasuke's Room, Do Not Enter' on his door in big red letters. Really? Who does that! It was lame even a hundred years ago damn it! Shaking his head, he slowly opened the door, trying to be careful as he opens the door… he didn't see anything, nor did he trust this room in the least. Looking around, he focused on the air flow in the room, feeling how there was someone in there. Smirking, Naruto held out his hand, feeling the flow of air surrounding his staff. There was no way that he was stupid enough to just walk on in there.

Focusing on the air flow, Naruto felt the wind carrying his staff and brought it over to him, flying into his palm. With that done, Naruto started to take off, he ran up the stairs that wasn't far from 'Sasuke's' room and tried to take off. But what he hadn't expected was to hear footsteps rushing after him. Turning, he gasped out in shock and focused the air through the staff, causing fins to come out of the top and bottom of his staff, turning it into a glider. The wings of this glider were black and red. The top left wing was black, the top right was red. The bottom left was red, and the bottom right was black, strange but it worked for Naruto.

Narrowing his eyes, he focused the air around him and started to fly through the air. Though, what he hadn't expected was for something to firmly grasp his ankle. Naruto yelped and looked down and saw Sasuke, his hand firmly held the blonde's ankle as he tried to fly away.

Though, with the extra weight, Naruto only fell and crashed landed on the ship's deck. Groaning, Naruto tried to push himself up, but all he could manage was to turn himself around and saw that the black haired teen was already on his feet, glaring down at him.

"Who would have thought that the Avatar would still appear so young, after being in hiding for a hundred years. I'm going to enjoy knocking you out and bringing you to my father." Sasuke smirked and his leg slid forward, his fist burning with fire as if ready to burn Naruto with a flaming punch. Naruto didn't expect this in the least, but he knew that he would have to defend himself somehow. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto twisted his upper body around, creating a shield of air hoping that the fire wouldn't get through to him.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard causing both teens to look over toward the water and up into the air. Sasuke's eyes were wide as he said "what the fuck is that!"

"Kurama!" shouted Naruto with a smile, he had never been this happy to see anyone before but damn they sure did have some good timing! Looking up, Naruto saw Neji and Hinata, though for some reason Neji looked like he was tightly holding onto Kurama's saddle so he wouldn't fall off. Naruto had a feeling he'd be making fun of this guy later but didn't comment on that for the time being. Turning back to Sasuke, Naruto pushed himself up to his feet and clenched his hand into a fist and punched at Sasuke, his air fist flew toward Sasuke, causing him to fall over.

Sasuke jumped back to his feet and growled. "I won't be beaten by some stupid Air Bender Sage! Screw this!" With that, Sasuke threw fire fist after fire fist at Naruto, causing the young Air Bender to walk backward, his staff being used to help deflect the fire attacks. Though, he couldn't keep moving back knowing that if he did that it wouldn't be good if he fell over the ship.

"Hold on Naruto!" shouted Hinata as she tried to get Kurama to land.

"No!" shouted Naruto, trying to get them to stay in the air. But, when he had turned to stare upward at Hinata, Sasuke had taken that chance. Charging, he kicked Naruto's staff out of his hands, then slammed his palm into Naruto's chest. Causing the blonde teen to gasp out in pain and fall backward and into the ice cold water. Naruto felt himself sinking into the water, his body already shivering from the cold.

Was this how it was going to end? Looking upward at the water, Naruto felt his body starting to shut down, but how was that possible? Naruto's eyes slowly started to close, the only sound that echoed through the water was the sound of his own heart ringing in his ears. Maybe this was how it was going to end. Some Avatar he had turned out to be, not even able to become a true Avatar in the least. Naruto's eyes soon drifted closed as he thought that this was a strange way to end.

"Naruto!" shouted a voice.

Naruto didn't know what was going on, he felt strange when hearing her voice. He felt a strange urge of power, like something deep within his soul was bubbling to the surface. He couldn't fail her, he had to help her. Had to help those in need, he couldn't fail them again, not again! He's already failed people a hundred years ago and now he had a chance to fix that! He had to fix this before it was too late to fix it!

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes snapped open, glowing pure white as the skills of his past lives surged through him… his mind going dark.

* * *

Hinata kept on calling out for Naruto, trying to get him to surface. But, it seemed that no matter what, he couldn't hear her. Maybe, it was too late… maybe the world was meant to fall in this war. How could this have happened? If only she had figured out what Naruto had tried to get her to tell Kurama sooner then maybe they could have saved him.

"Hinata look!" shouted Neji in shock, causing the blue haired woman to look over and stare in confusion. The water started to glow, and bubble with power. She could sense someone trying to water bend. But, how? Was it Naruto? Did he already know how to control the elements or was it something more?

Suddenly, there was a loud splash as Naruto surfaced in a huge spiral of water. Naruto's eyes glowing white, his bangs shooting upward, his hair looking wilder. The whisker marks on his face also glowed white, like with the orange arrow tattoos. Was this the Avatar State? She had heard of it, but not much was known about it… Frowning, Hinata just watched as Naruto used the spiral of water to get back onto the ship, the spiral though never disappeared.

"Men, capture the Avatar!" shouted Sasuke.

"Neji we have to do something!" shouted Hinata.

"Like what Hinata!?" shouted Neji.

Hinata looked closer at Naruto, watching as the spiral of water left his legs and started to swirl around him as his arms moved in a circular motion from the front to his back and around again. The spiral creating a ring of water before it splashed at the Fire Benders, knocking some over the ship, and freezing the rest. The Prince though, hadn't been frozen or tossed overboard. For it seemed that he hadn't run away or anything, more like he had somehow jumped over it.

Naruto's face was twisted with rage for some reason, as if he was angry about not knocking him over. Sasuke smirked and created a sword of flames as he charged at the Avatar. Though, Naruto just lifted his arms, causing the remains of the water and caught the black haired teen from the neck down. Sasuke cursed out the Avatar, Naruto though mostly just started to wobble…

"Come on Kurama land!" shouted Hinata with worry, as if understanding her human words, Kurama landed on the ship and lied down. Allowing Hinata and Neji to rush to Naruto, his legs shaking before he started to fall over. His hair falling back into place, the glow of his eyes, whisker marks and tattoos faded returning to their natural orange colour. Hinata rushed toward Naruto, as did Neji though he had picked up Naruto's staff which had slipped from Naruto's hands when he fell over the edge of the ship.

Hinata and Neji both helped the half conscious teen up onto the flying red fox before Neji started to steer both teens away. They didn't know where to go for the time being, but knew that the Fire Nation would try to hunt Naruto down… what for, they couldn't say.

* * *

Groaning, Naruto slowly started to open his eyes, he wasn't sure how long he had been asleep for, but what he did know… was that he was worn out and tired. Well, and he was sore out as well, thinking that if he moved he would gasp out in pain until he could rest some more. Looking around, his vision blurred from sleep as he tried to focus on what was going on around him.

He felt something soft under his head, frowning in confusion he looked up and saw the fuzzy outline of someone. He couldn't tell who it was; all he could make out was pale lavender coloured eyes. The hat though made him assume that he was resting on a man's leg. Frowning, he whispered "where am… I… sir?" The person frowned, how he could make that out he couldn't say.

"I'm a woman…" said a female voice, making Naruto recognize that. It was Hinata's voice! Damn, he must be out of it to have mistaken her for a man. Though, it does make sense why her thighs were so soft… and warm. Not firm like that of a man but he could definitely tell that she had muscle in her legs. Turning his head, Naruto frowned and saw that someone was holding Kurama's reins. Frowning, he tried to think on who that could be but tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Who's the woman?"

"I'm a man you ass!" shouted Neji.

Naruto just laughed, he's always wanted to tell that to Neji but now he had an excuse for it. Looking over again, he saw that his vision was starting to clear, everything coming into focus. Taking a deep breath, the young man pushed himself up and relaxed a little bit. He felt a little better that was for sure. Though, what Hinata had said caused him to frown and look away. "Why didn't you tell me you were the Avatar?"

"You only asked if I knew the Avatar, never asked if I knew who the Avatar was." He smiled a bit, only to sigh as he added "I never wanted to be the Avatar." Sitting up some more, he leaned into the side of Kurama's saddle and tried to relax a little bit. Looking over at Hinata, he smiled a bit as he said "though, I am happy you got the growls right for Kurama to have come as fast as he did."

"What did I say to him anyway?"

"Well, I got you to tell him that if he didn't come and save me that he'd have to keep eating cold fish instead of fresh meat. He loves fresh meat." Naruto laughed softly which only got him a growl from Kurama. Well, least something turned out okay… but, there was one thing that Naruto had to do… He wanted to see, if he really was the last Air Bender, he had to see this for himself so they were going to go to the Southern Air Temple.


	3. Chapter 3

Book One Water: The Southern Temple

Naruto yawned softly, he didn't want to get up… he just wanted to stay cuddled up against Kurama's tails and of course, he was using one of them as a blanket and a bed. Better than sleeping on the hard cold ground, though he couldn't help but wonder what he was going to see at the Air Temple. There was no way of knowing if the Air Sages had just hidden themselves away to keep themselves safe or if they were really wiped out. It made him think, the Air Sages were tricksters in a way, and maybe they had escaped and went into hiding somehow. There was no way that they could… that they could be gone.

Sighing softly, the young man nuzzled Kurama's tail as he said **"think they're really gone?"** Kurama just shrugged, he didn't really know plus, he didn't want to make any sounds with the other two still sleeping. Hinata and Neji had pitched their tents the night before for some much needed sleep while they had tried to travel to the Air Temple. Though, it made Naruto wonder if he was putting their lives at risk. If there was one thing he knew, it was that for something this big, there was a chance of there being a risk of people's lives. But, this was also something that had to be done but, could he do it alone or did he need their help to save this world and stop this war?

Groaning, he draped his arm over his eyes as if to hide from the information that was building up in his brain. This was something he didn't want to think about anymore until he saw what was going on. But, would he like what he saw at the temple? He couldn't really say for sure but for the time being, he should get some sleep before they leave in the morning.

No matter how hard he tried though, he just couldn't get to sleep. His mind haunted by the memories of his last encounter with his master. It seemed that no matter what, he just couldn't get over the way he had yelled at him, it made Naruto wonder if it was too late to say sorry to him…

Turning over, the young man pulled Kurama's tail gently to cover his body, wanting to just block out the real world from his mind. He wanted to return to the way things once were so he could escape this whole ordeal. The young bender though, had a feeling that wasn't going to be the case. That he wouldn't be able to escape the truth once he found it. No matter how much he didn't want to know the truth, he had to put up with it. To deal with the problems head on and become stronger than the problems itself. That was all he could do possibly at this point…

Taking a deep breath, Naruto soon felt himself drifting off to sleep… his mind was worn out from all of this worrying.

**"Hey, brat wake up! Time to get a move on! The others are awake and already prepared for the travel to the temple!"** shouted Kurama.

Naruto just groaned as he said "I don't want to go Kurama… I wanna sleep." He had mostly mumbled it, not bothering to say it in Kurama's language since it didn't really matter if he said it in English or the language of the foxes for Kurama would understand either way. At least, he does most of the time. Curling into a tighter ball, Naruto tried to get some more sleep, he had trouble trying to sleep and now that he was tired he just wanted to stay asleep.

"Naruto, please you have to wake up. You were so excited to go to the temple yesterday," came Hinata's soft voice. That, of course had caused Naruto to jump with a big smile on his face. Okay, he was a sucker for Hinata that was obvious to see. Though, he was still tired and wanted to sleep longer but right now, he had to bring Hinata to the temple… oh and Neji.

This was going to be a long trip, and something that Naruto had never done before. No one has ever been allowed to the Air Temples, well, no outsiders. The only time someone was allowed to enter the temples was an Avatar that was born to one of the other nations. Otherwise, no one had ever been allowed to even step foot inside the temples. Taking a deep breath, Naruto started to help pack up what he could find that had been used last night.

Neji though, looked like he would rather pack up his things by himself and sent Naruto what seemed to be 'death glares'. Which, to be honest were hostile with his pale lavender coloured eyes. So, he went to help Hinata with her packing. At least she wouldn't be harsh to him and allow him to help with the packing.

As he packed, Naruto couldn't help but stare at Hinata. She was a beautiful young woman, more so than the other Air Sage women that he would see as a child and growing up. It made him wonder… did she like him? Nah, they were from two different nations all together. He was an Air Sage, and she was a Water Tribeswoman. There was no way that anything could happen between them… right? Frowning, the young man blinked a few times as he grabbed something, his mind had been so distracted that he hadn't noticed what he had been grabbing anymore. Tilting his head, the young man tried to think on what he had just grabbed…

Whatever it was… it was large and squishy but very soft…

Turning his gaze upward a bit, Naruto's eyes went wide with shock, and he quickly felt his blood rushing to his face. "Uh…" was all Naruto could say as he stared at his hand, grasping Hinata's breast. The young woman stared at Naruto, her face going from its natural pale hue, to a light pink… only to darken to a deep shade of crimson. Before anyone knew it, Hinata screamed and punched Naruto. Thankfully for Naruto she didn't use her bending on him or he would have possibly been frozen.

"Hinata what happened?!" shouted Neji as he rushed over to his cousin's aid. The young woman of course, couldn't speak. Her expression had said just how flustered she was about what had happened. But for Neji, that was all he needed to know, for it seemed that he knew how she would react if someone had done something to make her nervous or scream out like she had. This was definitely not Naruto's day. He just knew it though, Hinata was going to tell Neji that he had grabbed her breast and then he was going to get a beating of a life time! Unless he used his air bending to get away or even use Kurama to fly away.

But, what had been said was what had surprised him the most…

"I thought I saw a snake…"

Hinata… defended him? Okay, he had no idea why that was but… he was happy. Maybe Hinata was as pure as she looked. "If that's the case Hinata, why does Naruto have a black eye?" Crap! He would have to come up with a good excuse for that but how? Wait! He had an idea already… Pushing himself up to sit, Naruto explained to Neji that he had made Kurama angry and got a slap by one of the fox's tails which normally resulted in a black eye. Which, of course Neji bought!

When the older man had walked away, Hinata looked over at Naruto as she asked "that was a pretty good lie… using Kurama's tails as an excuse." She smiled a little bit, which made Naruto smile a little in return. Though, he had also just shrugged and picked up his staff. Explaining to Hinata that it wasn't much of a lie since the fox did do that a lot when he was a kid. Naruto used to tug at Kurama's tails which would result in getting a nice slap by his tails. Either way, it wasn't much of a lie since it did happen a lot… just not at this very moment.

Looking up at the sky, he saw that it was still early in the morning… though if the wind works with them it should only take maybe a couple hours. So, they might get there by lunch. If the wind works against them though, maybe by dinner. There was really no way of knowing until they started to fly off. Taking a deep breath, Naruto focused on the wind to make a high jump. Hinata and Neji stared at Naruto with wide eyes, still finding it amazing that Naruto was an air bender and how he could easily control the wind that surrounded him just to do the most simple of things.

As for Neji and Hinata, well Kurama used his tails to gently wrap around their waists and bring them up to his large saddle so they could get a move on.

Yawning, Naruto looked over his shoulder after he landed on Kurama's back and stared at the two Hyuuga's started to set their things down and make sure that they were secure. He didn't blame them for wanting to make sure that their stuff didn't fly off while Kurama was up into the sky though, it made him wonder just how much objects could mean anything to anyone. Though, in a way he did have some understanding despite his teachings. If he lost Kurama or his staff there was no way of telling what he would have done. Though, Kurama was his friend and not just a possession…

Taking a deep breath, Naruto sat on ahead of everyone and took hold of Kurama's reins in his hands as he let out a soft growl. With that, Kurama took flight, using the air around himself to wrap around his paws to help him glide through the air to get him to flow through the sky.

Naruto tightly held Kurama's reins, wondering what the temple looked like now… were the other Sages okay. And most of all, were there any left? All of this was a big mystery that was driving him close to the point of insanity. Rubbing his forehead, Naruto tried to get his mind to clear, it was one of the many lessons that he had learned… keep a clear head; don't let yourself be controlled by your troubling thoughts. A clear mind is the key to true inner peace.

"Naruto, what was it like growing up in the temple?" asked Hinata.

Turning his head to stare at them again Naruto saw that Hinata was the only one that seemed interested, for Neji was sharpening his sword. Must be a habit of his to sharpen a sword before going to anywhere new. Oh well, either way he went to answer Hinata's question. "It was fine… I'm not sure how it would be compared to staying in the North Pole… Though, it was also strange with my teacher and his actions sometimes. It was still fun sometimes when I was training."

"How could a teacher be strange?" asked Neji, so he was paying attention after all. Must be part of the 'warrior' instinct that he's heard much about from his teacher. Though Naruto had a feeling that both Hyuuga's would be surprised if they knew about his teacher and his actions. Scratching his cheek, Naruto started to explain most of the things that had happened while he was younger.

Such as when his teacher would talk about women, how to spy on the women while they were bathing in the hot springs. And of course how to use the wind to properly lift their robes since the women sages wore long robes that resembled something like a kimono. Hinata and Neji stared at Naruto with wide eyes as if asking if that was normal for all Air Sages. Naruto of course, just shrugged as he said "not really. Jiraiya was a pervert through and through. The other sages were pretty much saints compared to him. But, despite that, he was still a good guy and an amazing teacher. He was like a father to me and raised me from the moment I was a toddler."

Hinata frowned a little. How would he react if this Jiraiya guy was killed a hundred years ago? There was no way of knowing how Naruto would react but there was a possibility that he would be devastated.

Naruto yawned a little bit, still feeling the lull of sleep wanting to claim him as it slowly started to creep up onto him. Rubbing his eyes, the young man answered what he could to both Hinata and Neji, half paying attention to what they were asking. Though, that was to be expected since he was half asleep, never did get enough sleep and even if he did Naruto just wasn't a morning person. He never has been and he had a feeling that he never would.

Looking ahead, Naruto frowned a little as he squinted his eyes. He could faintly make out something in the distance. There was definitely something there and he had to figure out what that object was in the distance. Was that… the temple? Yeah, it was! Naruto just smiled as he ruffled Kurama's fur as he said **"Look Kurama, we're almost home!" **He smiled, and he could hear Kurama let out a roar of joy. Though, for some reason Kurama's roar also sounded… sad, maybe even angry? He couldn't really be sure, but for the time being, he couldn't really do anything about that.

Right now, he just had to focus on getting to the temple and make sure that everything would be alright at home.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto rose to his feet, his hands gently moving through the air, as if he was trying to control the clouds themselves. Another art of air bending, with the clouds being part of the air, he could easily control them just like the air that surrounded everyone even go into their lungs.

He could feel the power of bending flowing through him, feeling it become a part of him. No, it was a part of him; Naruto knew that bending was just as much a part of him as the Avatar Spirit was. Opening his eyes, Naruto saw the clouds starting to move, and in its place was a slightly worn down temple covered in vines and leaves. Frowning, Naruto just stared at it… this wasn't right. There was no way that the temple should be looking like this.

The temple had always been a clean place; somewhere anyone would love the area because of how peaceful and well taken care of it had been. It made Naruto wonder if what Hinata had said, was true… had the temple been attacked a hundred years ago? Or was it only like this to give off the illusion of it being abandoned? Narrowing his blue eyes, Naruto grabbed Kurama's reins, since he had dropped them for his bending, he told him to quickly get to the temple. He had to get there, had to make sure that everything was really okay at the temple.

He just had to see this for himself.

Taking a deep breath, the young man got the red furred fox to land near the temple and looked around a bit. Frowning, he tried to think… think of ways for the Sages to have survived for so long. But, nothing came to mind, no matter what he just couldn't think of ways for them to have survived.

Looking up, he jumped off of Kurama and waited for the two teens to join him on the ground. It was strange to allow outsiders into the temple but, who cares right? Naruto had a habit of breaking the rules and that hasn't stopped him before. Running a hand through his hair, Naruto walked on ahead showing the teens what was what. Such as the temples where they would meditate, pray, or the dining hall. Though, the last one was his favourite since he didn't like meditating so much.

"Naruto, what's with all the statues?" asked Neji as he strapped his sword to his back.

"The statues are of the greatest sages of the past up to the present. Some of the statues are even of past Avatars. At least, that I know of any way… Though, the last statue that was made was of Jiraiya. Where was that statue again…?" The young man frowned a bit as he tried to remember where the statue builder had placed the pervy sage's statue…

"Sasuke, what are we going to do?" asked Itachi as he walked out of the ship with his little brother. His face as calm as it's always been. This of course, only made the young prince to growl with rage. They had sailed for a full day trying to get to a port where he could have the ship cleaned and checked for any damage. Could things get any worse than they already were?! Itachi just sighed as he stared at his little brother as he seethed in rage and anger. Would he ever relax or would he be a victim to his own rage and anger?

"Itachi, what do you think we did wrong? I had the Avatar and my honour in my hands and yet… it just _slipped away!"_ growled out Sasuke, his eyes narrowed into slits as felt his blood coursing, burning through his veins like lava. It was like he had lava for blood instead of blood, he was sure that he had won. That he was going to get his life back and get what he deserved out of life back and yet… it was ruined by a teenager that seemed like he was such… such an idiot!

Itachi gently patted the young teen's shoulder as he said "relax little brother. He was just stronger than he appeared is all. You are also strong but you must have a calm spirit."

"Cut the crap Itachi! There is no need for 'a calm spirit' this is war! I will capture him and bring him to our father and regain my birthright!"

"Sasuke…"

"Don't! Don't even think about it Itachi, I am going to go relax and I will have this ship finished by tomorrow and we'll leave. Understand!?" His only answer was a nod from his older brother before he started to walk away… though; a new voice soon stopped him. Causing the young man to freeze in his spot.

"So Prince Sasuke… Prince Itachi… you've both arrived here? What do I expect this great honour from a man that gave up his attack on one of the greatest cities of the Earth Kingdom and an honourless prince?" came a woman's voice. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the woman that stood before both himself and Itachi.

Her eyes were black like their own, a trait that most people in the Fire Nation had. Her hair was a mixture of black with hints of brown strands for her bangs. Her outfit was much like Itachi's though she didn't have a long piece of cloth around her waist that covered her pants. Instead, it was like she was wearing a skirt that reached her knees before splitting up the center and reached her upper thighs. At her waist was a sword, another style of fire bending that some people have learned. That they could use weapons to focus their fire bending on like what water benders could do with the right training.

Her face was beautiful for sure; her face was flawless, like she's never had a zit her whole life. Skin naturally pale that made her dark eyes seem almost grey. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that reached her lower back. Though, her hair tie was black with strands of gold hanging down the back of her head. Two locks of her hair were kept out of the ponytail, framing the sides of her face giving her a softer look. But Sasuke knew the truth; this woman was cold and only cared about killing and spilling blood in the name of the lord. She didn't care about anyone but herself…

"What do you want Kazumi?" demanded Sasuke.

"Just to see how you were doing… though, I am quite surprised to find your ship in such terrible condition." Said Kazumi with suspicion in her voice. Did she think that the water on the ship was caused by a bender or a wave? There was no way of knowing what was going on through her head. Sure, the ship was still in good shape and all but there was no way that he was going to tell this wench that the Avatar was alive and well.

Or the fact that he had been frozen by said Avatar.

"Well, since a ship this size would take a while to clean up and check for any kinds of damage such as from training and such. You both are going to stay here for a while and eat."

"Thank you Kazumi." Said Itachi with a slight bow before grabbing Sasuke's head and pushing down to make him bow as well. Sasuke of course, was not happy to show and kind of respect to this woman. He would rather see her burned to a crisp or frozen in a block of ice or even crushed by a bolder. Doesn't matter which element killed her so long as she was gone.

Kazumi didn't say anything else, though she just walked onto the ship. Sasuke just suspected that she was going to do a check on supplies and for any kind of damages. There shouldn't be any… Oh well. He started to walk on ahead, hoping to get away from all of these problems and away from his ship until tomorrow morning.

Yawning, Sasuke walked on into the dining hall and started to grab himself some fresh meat to eat. He couldn't help but wonder where the Avatar would have gone off too. Not to mention, how the Avatar had hair… didn't all sages shave their heads like the Fire Monks in the Temple of the previous Avatar? Whatever his name was, Sasuke couldn't remember… History was never his best subject, nor did he care for it. As he grabbed his tray, he went to sit down, ignoring everyone's stares at him. Did they all find it weird for their prince to be here and eating?

Maybe, it was possible. Though, he wished that they didn't stare at him so damn often. It was as if they were expecting the stories to be true. Such as his scar. Sure, he had received his scar in the old art of Agni Kai but at the moment, why should he care? He was a powerful fire bender and had his skills to be refined by one of the greatest generals… well, one of the once greatest generals. Since Itachi had given up and lost the will to fight.

Whatever had happened, Sasuke didn't know but he had a feeling it had something to do with that woman he was with. There was really no way of knowing how Itachi's mind worked, nor did he really care about it. It was almost as interesting to him as history.

Yawning softly, Sasuke took a bite of his duck and let his thoughts wonder.

He didn't know how long he had been in his thoughts for, but it made him think about how perfect his life had been back in the palace. Sure, he had his usual fights with his cousin about power and so on. But, Sasuke had tried to work hard on becoming Lord when Itachi didn't want the title anymore which didn't help with his failure… Not to mention, with the death of his mother. Just thinking about it, it made his heart ache that she died. Sighing softly, he reached down to grab something to eat… only to grope at nothing but the tray.

Looking down, he saw that he had already finished his meal. Which, was a little amazing… must have been in deep thought. Shrugging, Sasuke went to get up only to blink when someone slammed their fist on the table. Turning his head, Sasuke stared at Kazumi who was glaring at him, though her lips had twitched into a smirk.

"So, you had the Avatar huh…? Why didn't you mention that before?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie, your men told me everything. Should have known a disgraced prince would fail in capturing the Avatar, just like in everything else he does. Why else would your father banish you?"

"Watch your tongue… My father loves me."

"Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't know being banished was a sign of love. Why, if I knew that I would have asked my daddy to banish me too." Kazumi said with sarcasm. This of course, only fuelled Sasuke's rage and anger at her. This bitch was going down!

"You. Me. Agni Kai at dawn. Prepare to go down Kazumi." Growled out Sasuke before he left the dining hall and went to his room to prepare for his fight. As for Itachi, he just sighed wondering why Sasuke always thought that Agni Kai was the answer for everything…

"So, this is the statue?" asked Hinata with wide eyes.

"Yeah, this is Jiraiya's statue…" Naruto said with a small smile. The statue was covered in dried leaves and vines, but he could still make out the pervy sage's appearance. Long spiky hair pulled back at the nape of his neck. Two locks of spiky hair framing his face. Two lines drawn under his eyes and flowing down his cheeks like tears of blood. His robes were similar to Naruto's though Jiraiya had both of his sleeves both long and reached his fingertips. Though, the old sage also had the sage's robe jacket. Short sleeved and reached the ground.

The statue stood proud and tall, a sign that he was a great man when Naruto was here last. No matter how much of a pervert he was, Naruto respected and loved him like a child would their father. This statue was made years before Naruto had been born, that much he knew but, it made him wonder what he had been like when he was a child. The sage of course, would just say "I was a prankster in a way like you Naruto. It doesn't hurt to have fun now and again…"

Taking a deep breath, Naruto calmly said "he was a great man… I hope he had a full and long life." With that, he made a turn and started to head on toward the sealed room. The young man had been told that when he was ready, he would be allowed into the room to meet someone. But, highly doubted that he would have been able to have survived for a hundred years in this place. There was just no way was that possible. But, it wouldn't hurt to try would it? Running a hand through his hair, the young man looked up as he wondered down the hall with Hinata and Neji in tow.

"Naruto, where are you going?" asked Hinata with confusion.

"Just to a room. I was told that when I was ready I would meet someone in a room and might as well check it out… Maybe the Sages sealed themselves in there to keep themselves safe."

_'That's what I'm praying for though… that they sealed themselves within the room to keep themselves safe…' _thought Naruto, his eyes filled with sadness and hope. Once his eyes laid upon the closed gate, Naruto looked over to the two opening pipes that were on both sides of the doors, a sure sign that the key was air bending. At least, it was for Naruto.

As for Neji, he was trying to beat the door down to get it open. This only made both Naruto and Hinata to stare blankly at him. "Uh… Neji, that won't open the door." Said Naruto with a bland tone to his voice added by a sigh.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure on what will open the gate?"

"Because I lived here, and air bending is the key. So please move."

Neji right away had backed up and moved away to stand next to his cousin Hinata. The blue eyed teen looked up at the gate before lifting his hands up high. Palms facing the opening of the pipes as he focused on a gust of wind to flow around his finger tips and into the pips as his eyes started to close. The sound of clicking gears could be heard. He kept focusing on his bending. Naruto didn't know what he should expect in this place; there could be anything in this room… anything at all.

Once he heard the door start to open, the young man slowly started to open his eyes and blinked slowly. Frowning, he saw that the dim light shined through cracks within the ceiling and behind them… to reveal stone statues. Frowning, the young man walked inside with Hinata and Neji. This made Naruto wonder who these statues are or who they were. To him… he felt like he knew them at a point in his life or something.

Looking up at a statue of a tall man Naruto looked at his features. His hair was long that reached his waist. His eyes were kind and shined with compassion and kindness. He wore strange armour that rested on his shoulders, his forearms, his chest and bits of it hanging at his sides. The rest of his clothing looked like loose fitting tights to keep him flexible.

Naruto's eyes went black as he stared at the statue… as if he was in a trance. It was as if the spirit of whoever this man was, was trying to control him a sense. Trying to tell him something, to warn him of some kind of trouble that would come. But what that was, he couldn't be sure, thinking that there was something more, that there was more of a problem that was to come but couldn't figure it out.

"Naruto, you okay?" asked a soft voice, a hand went to his shoulder as if hoping he would snap out of whatever trance he was in. Blinking, he turned and stared at Hinata's concerned gaze as she asked "you alright? You… you just zoned out while staring at the statue…" She looked up at the statue and frowned a little, as if she was trying to figure out why Naruto had been staring at this man. "Do you know who he is?"

"That's Avatar Hashirama… he was the Avatar before me until I was born."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm not really sure… I just… knew his name. I felt like I've met him and all of these people before but… I just can't explain it at all." Whispered Naruto, his eyes half closed as if he was in deep thought. Trying to think on how he could have known all of these people but, nothing came to mind.

"What if they're your past lives?" said Neji suddenly. Causing both Naruto and Hinata to stare at him with wide eyes. "Think about it… Naruto knows all of these people without thinking. Then, of course look at the pattern. Water, Earth, Fire, and Air, it's the Avatar Cycle." Naruto looked at all the statues, processing what Neji had just said. That would make sense… the Avatar dies, and the Avatar Spirit is reborn into the next line, he remembered the other Head Sages talking about that.

Hinata looked over to Neji as she said "it makes sense Neji… How about we tour the temple some more?" Neji and Naruto both nodded, Naruto showing them the way around the temple.

Sasuke had a cloak wrapped around his shoulders as he faced Itachi. His older brother was telling him, warning him to be careful in this battle. He had to be careful, that much he knew. Before the match, Sasuke had removed most of his armour, just leaving him in his pants. The scar he had received long ago was now revealed without his shirt on. His scar was a long slash from his left shoulder going down to his right waist. Though, it was red around the edges showing that the attack used on him, was a fire bending move. A blade made from flames… He hated that the art of Agni Kai intended for the male fire benders to not wear shirts. The women were lucky; they got to wear a shirt…

This battle was also a reminder of his past shame, as was his scar and banishment.

Narrowing his eyes, he pushed himself up and turned around. Throwing off the cloak in the process as he glared at Kazumi. Her hair was still pulled back in a high ponytail, her top of choice was a shirt without sleeves but it clung to her body perfectly to prevent it from falling off during the fight. Though, when he glanced at the men in the crowd, he saw them drooling at her. _'Perverts…' _thought the young prince with a roll of his eyes.

"Begin!" shouted someone from the crowd.

Sasuke charged, throwing balls of fire from his fists like punches. While Kazumi dodged them easily, flipping through the air in a wheel-like formation. The soles of her feet throwing wave after wave of fire toward the black haired teen. Sasuke was easily able to dodge them, using his own fire bending to stop the flow of her attack.

Kazumi smirked as she created a flame sword in her hand and charged at Sasuke. The young man narrowed his eyes as he jumped into the air, kicking Kazumi in the face. While he was in the air, he created a wheel of flames above his head before throwing it at the young woman. This was a move he had learned while being banished. One of the few moves that Itachi knew. Sasuke's eyes were narrowed into slits as he watched as Kazumi managed to deflect the wheel of flames to the side, just barely missing the crowd.

Once he landed on the ground, Sasuke charged one more jumping into the air once more to shoot out flames from his feet before back flipping creating more flames toward the young woman. Twisting his body as he held out his arms to create a swirl of flames around his body, like a tornado, one that was heading toward Kazumi.

Kazumi yelped out in surprise before holding her palms toward the ground and flying through the air to get out of the way. While in the air, Kazumi held her arms out at her sides, spinning through the air with her leg held out in a motion like a wheel. She was aiming to kick Sasuke in the head; a blaze of flames surrounded her foot. If there was one thing that Sasuke wasn't going to allow, it was that he wasn't going to allow himself to get another scar. Sasuke though, he just smirked. Jumping out of the way, he grabbed Kazumi's foot and threw her to the ground.

He then set his foot on her chest, his fist toward her face, fist set in ablaze. Kazumi just glared as she said "you know the rules of Agni Kai… do it… do it!" Sasuke just narrowed his black eyes at her before moving away.

"I won… be glad I didn't burn your skin. I'm not like you." Calmly said Sasuke as he started to walk away. Though, Kazumi just growled before holding her fists out to Sasuke and shot out flames hoping to burn him. Though, before it could make contact with the young prince, Itachi had stepped in and blocked it with what appeared to be a flame shield.

The young woman just stared in shock. Unable to process what had just happened… "What makes my brother better than you Kazumi… is that he has honour while you do not. You just like the idea of killing and spilling blood along with burning people's flesh. Sasuke, is a better person than you'll ever be no matter if he had been banished or not." With that, the two brothers' went back on their ship and prepared to leave. Sasuke grabbed a robe and hid his scarred chest as he sighed softly. This was sure a strange day that was for sure.

Naruto frowned… he didn't know why but he felt a little uneasy right now. He had agreed to show Hinata and Neji around, possibly having a chance to finding any other air benders that may still be around. There was really no way of knowing what was going on but the strange chill that ran down his spine didn't want to leave him alone.

Shaking his head, Naruto mentally slapped himself, saying that there was nothing to worry about. That there was no need to let this bother him. There shouldn't be a reason for him to feel like there was something wrong but… it just didn't want to leave him alone.

"Is it normally this cold here in the temple?" asked Hinata with a frown.

"Not always no, but the sages have learned to adapt to the cold air up here. Jiraiya used to say that it was because in a way, water bending and air bending are the same. We can make the air cold or hot, and water benders can boil or freeze water." Naruto said with a small shrug, sure he had understood what the pervy sage had said but to him, he didn't see a point in heating up or cooling down air at all. Sighing softly, the young man frowned as he turned toward the one hall… it was the gathering hall. He remembered how the Head Sages would go in there to meet up with and talk about important business.

Frowning, the young man felt something wrong… he leaned a little over toward it… trying to see if maybe there was something there that could give him an idea of what could be in there… maybe there was some sages in there? Before he knew it, Naruto slid on the icy ground and fell over the small cliff. He screamed from the surprise of the fall.

Once he slid down into the hall, Naruto groaned and slowly started to push himself up. Ice was not a good thing when his shoulder was bare… many he really needed to stop having his sleeve off his shoulder. Shaking his head, the young man lifted his head slowly and frowned when he saw armour… or he should say the remains of armour. He remembered the style; even if it was old… the amour belonged to the Fire Nation.

Gulping, the young man lifted his head more and stared with wide eyes. Half buried in the snow was a skeleton… The remains of clothes and strands of white hair told him that it's been there for a while. He knew that it was an Air Sage from the robes… but that wasn't what had surprised him. It was the colour of the robes and what was around his neck. "No…" was all he could force himself to say. For around the skeleton's neck was a necklace that Naruto remembered… he had received it from his father (that was what he had been told anyway) and he thought that Jiraiya could use the luck and felt no real attachment to his father since he had no memory of him.

The necklace was a strong string that would never break that was for sure. On the string were two steel balls that hung at the sides of a blue crystal. Naruto had been told that it would be worth quite a bit, but he didn't care about money…

His eyes were wide with shock, void of all life but had a shine of grief and pain and loss. Naruto didn't hear what was behind him, didn't hear what was around him. Even when Neji and Hinata called out for him, he didn't hear them. He just didn't care anymore… all he could do was stare at the skeleton of his old teacher, his friend… his father figure. Tears started to fall from his eyes as he cried… and just like that, his mind had gone blank once more…

"Naruto!" shouted Neji when he saw Naruto's tattoos glowing.

"He's going into The Avatar State again!" cried Hinata as she tried to get to Naruto… only for a huge and strong gust of wind to surround Naruto in an orb of air. The wind that surrounded him shot out around his surroundings, as if trying to show just how much pain and grief he was really in. Hinata tried to get to Naruto but the air was strong and almost pushed her off of the mountain. "I have to get to him!" shouted Hinata with fear in her voice.

"Hinata are you crazy?! You'll be blown off of the mountain!" shouted Neji.

"If I don't do something we'll blow off anyway!" shouted Hinata as she slowly made her way to Naruto. There had to be something to help him… when she looked ahead, she saw the skeleton and right away, knew who it was. There was no need to ask questions for her to know that the skeleton was his teacher and friend. This had to be Jiraiya's skeleton. Looking up at the air bender as he floated into the air, his face filled with rage, a sign that his Avatar Spirit was angry, and filled with pain and grief over the loss… Gulping, the young woman said "Naruto, please calm down! I know you're sad… I know your upset about your people but you're not alone anymore! You have me, Neji and Kurama! I know you're upset, I know your pain like when I lost my mother! Please… stop this Naruto!"

There was nothing but the sound of the wind whipping around at the surrounding area. Hinata didn't know if Naruto had heard her or not… He just kept floating in the air with the wind helping him. It just seemed like he would stay in the air, remain in the Avatar State no matter the cost. That was when she started to notice it though…

The wind was starting to fade… it started slowly, weakening with every second. Until finally, it was gone. Naruto slowly started to reach for the ground, his tattoos still glowing but was starting to fade. The young woman didn't know which of her words had reached him… but, what she did know was that he was regaining control once more. Without thinking, Hinata rushed to Naruto and held him once he had touched the ground… and fell over with him.

Naruto seemed weak, but that was to be expected. Hinata got herself to sit up, staring at Naruto with sadness in her eyes. When he started to come to, he looked up at her as he whispered "I… I really am… the last one." He looked like he was about to cry again, Hinata held Naruto close and whispered soothing words to him. As for Neji, he went to the skeleton and gave the poor guy a proper burial. Though, Naruto had asked for the necklace for a keepsake… as a way to remember the pervy sage. Neji nodded, knowing that this would be the first step to his heart healing.

Hinata though, she just hoped that Naruto would heal from this pain and loss. But, what she did know was that he didn't have to go through this pain alone. He still had her, and Neji and Kurama to be with him to get through this. That was what mattered.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been rough since coming from the Air Temple. Naruto hadn't really spoken much since then though, Hinata couldn't really blame him. The young man had his own way of dealing with the pain she guessed. Looking over, Hinata saw that Naruto was mostly lying on Kurama's neck as if he was just drained of all of his energy. Turning to her cousin, who just so happened to have his hair tied at the nape of his neck for he was trying to do some hunting.

Maybe the whole thing was a little awkward that that she thought about it. The air around them was thick was sadness and depression, mostly around Naruto. After they had left, he had placed the necklace around his neck and would hold onto it when he was in deep thought. As if he could still hear the voices of his master, friend, and father figure.

Sighing softly, Hinata pushed herself up and looked around, Kurama had been swimming around in the water for a while now, and she didn't really know how long they had been walking though she knew one thing. They weren't in the cold environment anymore, looks like she wouldn't need her winter coat anymore.

Looking at the sky, Hinata figured that it was around noon. Maybe it was time for them to get a bite to eat? Looking over at Neji, she saw that he had managed to catch a few fish, maybe there were more out here than at home. Turning back to Naruto, the young woman made her way toward the blonde bender as she asked "Naruto, are you okay?" Naruto just lied there, she didn't think that he would answer her, was he still in the isolation of depression?

Hearing him take a deep breath, he mumbled a "yeah" and just pushed himself up and looked over at Hinata over his shoulder. He had some lines on his face from lying on Kurama's fur, though otherwise, he just looked like he hadn't slept very well. Had he been having nightmares that she and Neji haven't been aware of?

Shaking her head, Hinata walked over to Naruto and pulled him into the saddle as she said "Naruto, you need sleep and something to eat. Ask Kurama to go to that island over there. Maybe we can eat the fish that Neji caught." Turning her head to look at her cousin, she asked "there enough for everyone?" The brown haired young man looked up at Hinata before nodding his head and taking his long hair out of its ponytail and just tying the hair tie near the bottom of his hair as usual.

Naruto growled to Kurama, a language that Hinata knew that she would have to ask Naruto to teach her at some point. It may come in handy if she ever needed to tell Kurama that they would have to take off if Naruto couldn't. Hinata didn't know what more she could do for Naruto, he just seemed to close himself off from everyone and that had her worried for the young sage.

"Naruto…"

"I'm fine Hinata… Don't worry so much." Calmly said Naruto as he held onto Kurama's reins. Hinata knew better though didn't she? She knew enough that Naruto was keeping his emotions bottled up inside and that wasn't good for him. It was as if he was slowly becoming a ticking time bomb, it'll only take so much until it'll explode, and for Naruto there was no way of knowing what kind of damage.

As soon as the red fox landed on the island, he lied down and curled up in a ball. Hinata sometimes wondered if he was lazy or was just really old. Shrugging to herself, she removed her coat revealing that she wore a short sleeved lavender shirt underneath, after that she removed her gloves and hat before setting those in her bag. At least she could handle wearing her boots and pants…

Turning her gaze to Neji, she saw that her cousin had the same idea, for he had started to remove his jacket and gloves as well, revealing a white muscle shirt, she guessed that it was mostly for when he was fighting so it wouldn't hinder his movement. After shoving his jacket and gloves in his bag, Neji started to cook some of the fish that he caught before he turned to Naruto. "Does Kurama like fish?"

"Hm? Oh yeah, Kurama will eat anything so long it has meat he doesn't care." Naruto calmly said as he was trying to get a few things off of Kurama. Most likely the saddle so the fox could relax a bit before they had to take off once more. Hinata turned to Naruto and heard him growling to Kurama, and Kurama to Naruto. No doubt they were talking and the way Kurama looked at Naruto was easy to see that he was lecturing Naruto or something along those lines. Though it did have her wondering if Kurama was also trying to get Naruto to stop bottling up his emotions… she needed… to find some way to help him or something to get his mind off of his problems… wait.

_'I got an idea.'_ thought Hinata with a smile before making her way to Naruto and stood next to him. Still finding it amazing that he was taller than she was though maybe all sages were tall? Taking a deep breath, Hinata asked "what did Kurama say?"

Naruto turned to Hinata for a moment before he looked away, his hand gently patting Kurama's muzzle as if hoping that would silence the creature. "Kurama thinks that I shouldn't bottle up my emotions but I'm fine, really I am. I guess… it's just hard to accept that I'm the last one… I'm the only other person to talk to Kurama, to understand him… The language of Kurama is locked away within my mind."

"Really?"

"Well… I guess that other guy knew it to… I can't remember his name but he was on the Fire Nation Ship…"

"Can… anyone learn?"

"Learn what?"

"To talk with Kurama? To understand him?"

Naruto blinked at her as if trying to understand what she had just said. Was it that hard to believe that she wanted to learn how to speak fox… or whatever it was called. Taking a deep breath, Naruto calmly said "for those who do have a spiritual connection can speak to Kurama easily…"

"What do you mean?" asked Hinata, this was very confusing. What would a connection have to do with learning how to understand Kurama? Maybe there was more to the language than she thought originally…

Naruto turned and stared at Hinata for a moment, his blue eyes looking into her lavender coloured eyes as if trying to find something. Hinata didn't know why she didn't look away from him; his eyes were so captivating that… that she couldn't look away. It was as if she was looking into a never ending ocean, one that had no end, yet at the same time no beginning. Was it possible for someone to have such amazing eyes as his?

The young man looked away and went back to rubbing Kurama's muzzle as if he got his answer from Hinata's gaze. Hinata took a deep breath, hoping to calm down her nerves as she waited for Naruto to answer that he had meant about the connection. Or if he would even talk about it… "Kurama is, in a way a spirit from the Spirit World, from what I learned as a kid, anyone can learn to speak Kurama's language, but those with a spirit connection, no matter what kind… Such as an Air Sage, someone who had some kind of experience in the past or in your case, through your connection with water bending, are able to learn much quicker."

"So… because the first water benders were the spirits of the moon and water, I can learn faster?" Hinata asked in confusion, wanting to make sure that she understood what Naruto was saying. Though she wasn't sure how having a spirit connection was enough to get her to learn how to speak to Kurama all that much quicker. It couldn't have taken Naruto that long to have learned this right? Sure, learning a new language could sometimes take many years depending on the person but… it couldn't take less than that right?

Naruto nodded as he said "that's right. To learn Kurama's language, it takes focus, for we talk not only through growls, but through our spiritual connection. For those who do not have that connection, have to build one up first which could take several years for, from what I remember everyone has a spiritual connection but some are stronger in others."

Hinata frowned at that, it would make some sense. She knew for a fact that most spiritual energy was strongest in most people. Must have been that way for the Air Sages before they were wiped out… Thinking back on that, it made Hinata sad for Naruto, though he wasn't alone.

Staring at the young sage, Hinata asked "how long did it take you to learn?" She didn't think he would answer her, though it didn't hurt to ask right? Even if Naruto didn't plan to answer her, it was better than not saying anything at all to him. Maybe it would even get his mind off of his problems.

Naruto chuckled, it wasn't a real laugh but at least it was a bit of a happy sound coming from him. That was a great start right? He stared at Hinata with a calm gaze as he said "it took me a few months. Normally, learning the language takes roughly two years since it is mostly growls and the energy of the spirit, but since I'm the Avatar, it took me a few months." He gave her a soft smile before making his way away from Kurama, and walked toward Hinata.

The young man slowly made his way toward Hinata while she was in deep thought. Hinata tried to think as to how long it would take her to learn this. After all, Naruto had grown up knowing the energies of the spirit, while Hinata, may have tried to learn how to use her bending all on her own, it still wasn't enough for her to learn how to both, learn to control her bending and to learn how to speak to Kurama.

"Hey you two, foods ready." Called Neji, drawing Hinata out of her train of thought as she turned to her cousin. She told him that they would be on their way, though she wondered even more about learning how to speak to Kurama… the only time he understood her was from those growls that Naruto had gotten her to use… did he know that she could do it because of her bending or was it all luck of the draw?

Hinata started to walk on ahead, though because she wasn't used to walking on sand, the young woman lost her footing and started fall forward. That is, until she felt someone grab her wrist and pulled her back up and into something solid. Hinata's face went bright pink when she realized, that Naruto had not only caught her but pulled her into his chest. Slowly, the young woman lifted her head and looked at Naruto; his face seemed oddly calm though there was something in his eyes.

Blushing all the more, Hinata saw that Naruto was leaning closer to her. This, of course was something that had never happened before. Even at home, no one had tried to do this with her… well, at least that she could think of. Was this… was he going to kiss her?

"Ah! The food! Not that food!" shouted Neji, causing both Naruto and Hinata to look at what the brown haired teen was screaming at. As soon as they did turn around though, it seemed that they were being attacked. For in a blur of movement, the sand had been kicked up causing the fish to be covered in sand, ruining the meal. The fire had gone out and before anyone could make heads or tails of what was going on around them, Hinata had been pulled away from Naruto, and been knocked out with a nice solid whack in the back of the head.

* * *

Groaning, Naruto didn't know what hit him… all he knew was that Hinata fell, he pulled her to his chest before she made contact with the sand and he… had… been about to… kiss her… _'Damn it! Wait, if I'm awake why is everything dark? Did I suddenly go blind?'_ Shaking his head, he looked around as if hoping there would be some form of light or colouring. Nope, nothing but pure darkness. Just what the hell is going on right now?! Taking a deep breath, Naruto shook his head for a moment, and that was when he felt something moving against his head and cheek. Was something over his head?

"Where are the men that attacked us?!" shouted Neji, Naruto guessed that he had just woken up though it was rather amazing how he didn't sound groggy at all. Ah well, the only thing that mattered was to figure out what was going on. Was Kurama around? Maybe he could break them out of here. Wait, what about Hinata?!

Struggling in his ropes a bit, Naruto made a few growling sounds, hoping that if Kurama was near that he would be able to help them out of this place. Hell, right now he was hoping that he hadn't been kidnapped and taken into the Fire Nation.

No answer… damn it, either Kurama was out cold or he wasn't there. Either way, it was bad news.

"What's going on?" came Hinata's voice; at least he knew that she was okay. Though, what was going on the other hand was what had him very concerned. There was no way of knowing what these people were going to do to them; he had to get Kurama to save them before it was too late. Gritting his teeth, Naruto tried to think on what he could do. First, he tried to move his arms; maybe he could bend the air with them? Nope… maybe his legs? No… that wasn't going to work either. Unless he could get this bag off then he could blow the enemies away.

"Intruders, we won't allow anyone to taint this land…" said someone before the bags had been removed from everyone's faces.

Naruto squinted his eyes a bit from the sudden shine of light. Damn, it must have been noon, just how long had he been out?! Shaking his head, he blinked a few times as he saw a few villagers surround him, Neji and Hinata. Looking around, he said "where's my fox?! Where's Kurama?!"

The elderly man that held a staff in his left hand, his greying hair pulled back in a high ponytail and his green robes started to walk forward. He stared at Naruto with his cold brown eyes as he said "the fox took off so we could not capture him. But that does not matter, we do not hurt animals. But intruders such as yourselves, we will hurt you all."

Naruto glared, at least Kurama was safe but it was only a matter of time before the fox would come to save them. He must have taken off to think of a plan to save them. AS for Neji, he just glared his lavender coloured eyes as he said "forget about the fox Naruto, I have to know who took me down! I don't allow just any man to take me down! I wasn't ready for that fight!"

Suddenly, everyone in the village started to laugh. Turning his gaze to Neji, Naruto saw that he was not in a happy mood. Hell, he would like to get in on the joke right now since honestly, he didn't understand how anyone could be laughing when Neji wanted to meet the warriors that took him down so easily.

Soon, the crowd started to move, a single person started to come forward and Naruto was curious as to it would be. Frowning, Naruto turned his gaze a few times and saw that Hinata was next to him. At least something good happened though; he couldn't help but notice the bruise on her cheek. She must have been hit when she was knocked out or something…

Soon, standing in front of the crowd was a single woman. "I took you all down, and I must say… it wasn't much of a fight." She said with a smile. Not a dark one, but an amused one. Naruto blinked as he stared at her, she had long brown hair, some of it was gathered up in a bun, held by a golden clip that circled around it, and of course she had a black headband that kept her bangs from poking her in the eyes. Next, she wore a white sleeveless robe held together by three golden clips that went to her left shoulder. On her right shoulder, was a shoulder pad that had a green strip flowing down to her left hip.

On her arms were white bandages and over those were black with gold rim arm braces with a green strap that started just a little below her elbow and ended just a little under her wrist. Next, was the belt that wrapped not just around her waist, but held what looked like black side padding that started above her waist and ended at her thighs. The padding was ringed in gold with what looked like a nice golden head piece above the material. It made Naruto think of what would be on a crown in the Fire Nation.

Under that padding, Naruto could make out strips of a light green that was also ringed in gold. One strip in the center, one on each side and if she had turned around there may be one at the back. Under that, was a green wrap that almost made it look like she was wearing a dress though if it wasn't for the brownish coloured pants under the dress wrap then he would have thought that she wasn't a great warrior. To finish off her outfit, were the green shoes that curled a little at the end and of course the white bandages that wrapped around her ankles.

Naruto blinked when he saw the outfit, for some reason it looked… familiar to him. Shaking his head, the young man turned to Neji and just saw his eyes widened. "You can't be a warrior! Men, they are true warriors!" shouted the brown haired teen as his wide eyed stare turned into one of hate. Naruto just rolled his eyes and thought he'll let Neji just humiliate himself a little before putting an end to it.

The girl just raised an eyebrow at him as she said "oh? Girls can't be warriors because we're not like big bad men huh? Too bad for you, this girl took all of you down without a problem." She laughed before pulling out a sword. The word was a simple blade, long, thin, and dangerous. The girl made her way toward Neji; it looked like she wanted to kill him first because of his sexist comments about women not being able to be warriors. Raising the sword above her head, she said "in the name of Avatar Tsunade, you will die here today and may her spirit give you forgiveness!"

"Wait! Did you say Avatar Tsunade?" Naruto said in shock, now he knew why the outfit looked so familiar to him. Those were the warrior clothes that Tsunade, one of his past lives, wore when she was in battle.

The girl turned and stared at Naruto for a moment, as if trying to understand where he was going with this. She nodded as she said "yes, that's right. I am part of the Tsunade Warriors, after Avatar Tsunade created this island, and since then had taught people in her style of fighting." Looking around, he saw a statue, well a wooden statue. On the statue, was a tall, yet very busty woman with long blonde hair pulled in two low ponytails. Her robes were just like this girl's though a little more open in the front as if to show off her curves.

Though he also noticed the blue diamond on her forehead…

"Wait!" shouted Naruto.

"Now what…"

"You can't kill me because if you do, you'd pretty much kill Tsunade!" shouted Naruto.

Everyone just stared at Naruto in shock, only for everyone to start laughing again. Naruto sighed as he said "I'm serious! I'm the Avatar!" He didn't think they would believe him, after all he had been thought to have been dead for a hundred years. Looking around, Naruto knew that he could blow wind to break him free. That could work right? Right?

"Naruto you might want to do some air bending now before they kill us." Whimpered Hinata as she tried to back up more into the wooden pool that they were tied to. Naruto knew that she was scared, this was not how she saw her journey, and it was that easy to read Hinata that was for sure. Taking a deep, deep breath, Naruto blew the air toward the ground, causing him to not only fly free of the ropes and go skyward, but he glided toward the statue of Tsunade.

"It… it's true, you are the Avatar!" shouted the elder, only for everyone to start to bow to Naruto. Looks like he was gonna get some respect after all. Today was going to be a good day alright.


End file.
